3 Top-Four Defenseman Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade For
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to trade for a top-four defenseman immediately.
If you watched the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the New York Rangers on Wednesday night, it was clear that the team’s defense wasn’t ready for that match-up. Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie played fine, but Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren, Travis Dermott and Alex Biega were not up for the task.
When you’re sheltered on the third-pair, you can get away with a few mistakes that won’t cost you. However, when you’re playing against the other team’s top-players, that’s not going to happen.
The Rangers third goal was the result of Liljegren being too cute. He tried to get the puck out of the zone by going through the middle of the ice (which is stupid to begin with) but gave the puck away. From there, he went to cover the point, without realizing that there was an opposing player 15 feet behind him, who then received a pass and executed a one-timer to perfection.
Liljegren looked like he didn’t belong in the NHL on that play and it was incredibly disappointing to see.
Obviously it’s just one game and he seemed to play better after that, but that type of performance is the opposite of what Toronto was looking for.
The same can be said about the Biega-Dermott pairing. Dermott is not a player you want on your roster during a playoff game. He was getting man-handled and can’t play a physical game. The Rangers’ fourth-line was destroying them all night.
If you’re going to lose, you want the Rangers best players to beat you. You don’t need Ryan Reeves scoring two goals and looking like a Rocket Richard Trophy winner out there.
If the Rangers game showed us anything, it’s that Toronto needs another top-four defenseman ASAP and they also need Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl back in the line-up.
Here are three top-four defenseman the Toronto Maple Leafs should trade for.
No. 1: Josh Manson
The Toronto Maple Leafs need a top-four defenseman, who has size, is defensively responsible and is right-handed.
That man could be Josh Manson.
With a $4.1M cap-hit and as a pending UFA, it’s quite possible that Manson will be available at the NHL Trade Deadline. I know that the Anaheim Ducks are in a playoff spot right now, but their team is still in a rebuilding phase.
They weren’t supposed to be this competitive this year, and they’re without a G.M, so they may want to trade a few assets this season and really go for it next year when they have cap-space to recruit free agents.
Even if they traded Manson at the Deadline, it doesn’t mean he can’t eventually return next year, so they may want to unload a player for assets and see what they can get.
Manson isn’t a point-producer, but he would be upgrade over Justin Holl as a second-pairing right-handed defenseman who can help shutdown the opponents best players. His name has clearly been tied to the Leafs for a while, so it wouldn’t be shocking if Toronto kicks tires on him again, especially if the Ducks become sellers at the deadline.
No. 2: John Klingberg
Last season, the Leafs were rumored to be interested in Nashville Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm, so it would shocking if they were looking at John Klingberg, who’s a very similar defenseman.
In terms of a defenseman with a ton of experience, who can produce points, play top-four minutes and has a cheap contract, there’s nobody better in the marketplace than Klingberg.
With a $4.25M cap-hit for only this season, there’s going to be a number of teams lining up for Klingberg’s services.
During the Stars run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Klingberg was fantastic. He finished with 21 points in 26 games and was one of the leaders in ice-time. He can not only score at a fantastic pace, but his size makes him an intimidating player in front of the net.
At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Klingberg could jump in and play on the first-pair with Morgan Rielly, or he could help complement Jake Muzzin on the second-pair. A shutdown pair of T.J. Brodie and Muzzin could be a better fit with Klingberg there, but either way, Klingberg would be a huge upgrade on Justin Holl and would really make the team’s defense way better.
No. 3: Anton Stralman
He’s a little older (35-years-old) and makes a little bit more money ($5.5M), but the former Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick could be a good fit.
With 113 games of playoff experience, Stralman has been in every situation possible and the only thing he’s missing is a Stanley Cup ring. He made it to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals but hasn’t been able to win, so coming to a contender would more than likely be very motivating for him.
He can provide a little offense, but more importantly he can bring experience.
Would you rather have Holl on the second-pair or NHL veteran Stralman who’s seen everything you can think of? The clear answer is Stralman because in a big moment, you know he’s not going to get nervous or rattled and can be a great voice in the room.
With Muzzin and Stralman leading the second-pair, that would be two players with four Stanley Cup Finals appearances between them, which is incredibly valuable in tough playoff series’.
Next. Leafs Should Trade for Klingberg. dark
As mentioned, his contract could definitely be a problem but if the money worked, Stralman could do a lot of good for the Leafs defensive core.